Great Falls and the surrounding area is home to many motorcycle enthusiasts. It’s also home to motorcycle “clubs” that are, in fact, nationally recognized outlaw motorcycle gangs.

The U.S. Department of Justice says the following in its definition of a gang: “… members collectively identify themselves by adopting a group identity which they use to create an atmosphere of fear or intimidation …”

An example of this is the “1%” patch many outlaw motorcycle gang members wear along with their club’s logo and “colors.”

The 1 percent symbol is attributed to the response following a decades-old quote from the American Motorcycle Association assuring folks that 99 percent of motorcyclists are law-abiding citizens.

“They’re saying they’re not a part of the 99 percent of motorcyclists who are law-abiding citizens,” Great Falls Police Sgt. Jim Wells said.

Groups of this type that are active in Great Falls include the Bandidos and two of its “farm” or “support” clubs, the Hermanos and the Amigos. Other clubs do have reported chapters in Great Falls and the state of Montana.

All three of those clubs with loyalty to the Bandidos have reported ties to serious crimes committed in Great Falls this year — the recent report of kidnapping and torture at a Riverview home and a vehicle shooting reported in June.

The reported torture of an unidentified female occurred at Rodney Lukasik’s home on Sacajawea Drive. Lukasik was arrested at his home last week on a $100,000 warrant for aggravated kidnapping and assault with a weapon, both felonies.

The arrest required the assistance of the GFPD High Risk Unit, the equivalent to a SWAT team.

Lukasik identified himself as the president of the Hermanos Motorcycle Club in a Tribune story published in July 2014 publicizing a “poker run” fundraiser supporting the Monarch-Neihart History Foundation. He was pictured in his “colors,” though there was no visible “1%” patch on the front of his vest.

“A lot of the local folks; when we first showed up they were kind of checking us out,” Lukasik was quoted saying in 2014. “Now that they’ve got to know us a little bit, they treat us real well up there. We want to pay it forward.”

At one point, Lukasik worked as a custodian for Great Falls Public Schools, according to Human Resources Director Mindy Kiser. She verified that Lukasik was working at Mountainview Elementary until August 2015, when he was granted unpaid personal leave that has since expired.

Kiser said GFPS staff are subject to pre-employment background checks and policy dictates staff suspected of violent or serious crimes are placed on leave pending the results of internal investigations. Kiser said the latter scenario has not occurred during her time as HR director.

Kiser also said the administration was aware of Lukasik’s affiliation with the Hermanos Motorcycle Club more than two years ago, and that GFPD school resource officers advised at the time that Lukasik did not pose a safety risk. She recalled that the officers indicated the GFPD was not overly concerned with the club’s activity level in Great Falls.

Wells said he is concerned with any local chapter of an organization affiliated with the second-largest outlaw motorcycle gang in the country, according to the Department of Justice.

“There’s tame and not causing problems,” Wells said, “but you still are what you are.”

Now, Lukasik and two other suspects, Brian Murphy and Robert Hoenjet, face felony charges for their alleged roles in the intimidation and assault of that young woman, who told police she was burned with a cigarette, shocked in the abdomen with a stun gun and nearly strangled.

The court documents paint a picture of intimidation and retaliation against a meth-addicted woman who got in the middle of a battle over firearms and stole $100 from Lukasik while he was sleeping.

Firearms played a major role on the other case tied to motorcycle gang members this year.

Four suspects with reported ties to the Bandidos or Amigos were charged for their alleged roles in a June vehicle shooting. Court documents say a Jeep Cherokee parked in front of a four-plex apartment building on the 4200 block of Central Avenue had 23 bullet holes in it after the incident.

Anthony Lee Maier Jr., Jordan Thompson, John McKinnis and Tyler Christiansen were each charged with eight counts of criminal endangerment, one count of evidence tampering and one count of criminal mischief, all felonies.

Two other reported gang members, Gaylord Croft and James Kerce, are charged in that case with evidence tampering, a felony.

The Jeep’s owner, Bridger Gurnsey, told police he thought he was a target because he used to date Thompson’s current girlfriend. He told police he had “several violent encounters” with Thompson since March.

There was a report to police May 25 that members of the Bandidos gang had a male “trapped inside” an east-side gas station. Court documents indicated a physical fight between the “trapped” male, who was later identified as Gurnsey, and gang members. Dispatch reported the male inside was being beaten with a baseball bat.

When police arrived, documents say Gurnsey was gone and so were the suspects. Other witnesses, including the gas station clerk, were unaware of the alleged attack. Gurnsey came back to the scene and the responding officer documented a small scrape over one of Gurnsey’s eyes and a cut to his lip.

National law enforcement sources such as the Department of Justice and the FBI link outlaw motorcycle gangs to criminal enterprises such as drug trafficking and prostitution.

The reported victim in Lukasik’s case said he provided her with methamphetamine. Baggies of the drug were located in his bedroom and living room during the execution of a search warrant, according to court documents.

Fights between rival gangs also place the public at risk.

At least nine were killed in May 2015 during fight between the Bandidos members and members of other gangs at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas. The Washington Post reported none of them was a police officer or bystander.

The victims may have all been reported gang members, but the GFPD was concerned when reports of outlaw gang members headed to Great Falls began trickling in just weeks later.

The Tribune reported about the police response last July.

“The shooting in Waco was fresh,” Police Chief Dave Bowen told the Tribune for that story.

Some of the local motorcycle “clubs” had events scheduled at local businesses, and the news that out-of-town members of rival groups were arriving spurred a last-minute staffing plan to deal with the situation should any “friction” turn ugly.

Patrol shifts were extended and off-duty officers were called in to work.

“It was effective enough that it got their attention,” Bowen said of the strategy, which the department believed prevented potential violence.

According to Wells, the department will continue to view local chapters of outlaw motorcycle gangs through a lens of “concern” in the interest of public safety.